Like many of you, we here at Nuance HQ are thrilled to be attending one of pop culture’s most thrilling destinations –SXSW 2013.

We’ve stuffed our many cords, chargers, notebooks and ironic t-shirts into our proverbial knapsacks and are ready to hit the road.

This year is a particularly exciting one for us. Gary Clayton, Chief Creative Officer at Nuance Communications, will be conducting a panel entitled, “Interact with the TV: Say it, Wave it, Take it 3D”.

For those of you joining us in Austin or those of you who are admiring the thought leadership from afar this go-round, here is a description of the panel:

As the number of entertainment options available through connected TVs—whether it be shows, videos, movies or information widgets—increases so does the complexity of finding and deciding what to watch. Let’s face it: no one wants to use a remote control that looks like a giant mass of buttons. Advanced user interface technologies—some that you could swear you saw on an episode of the original StarTrek—are emerging as cutting-edge solutions to dramatically simplify the entertainment discovery experiences—essentially turning YOU into a human remote control. Technologies such as voice recognition, gesture recognition and 3D are opening up new opportunities for content models and enhancing the entertainment experience. This session will discuss how advanced user interface technologies are transforming the connected device landscape, the role of consumer and social behavior in their evolution and how this impacts what consumers expect their gadgets to do for them tomorrow.

As Chief Creative Officer for Nuance Communications, Gary Clayton holds a unique role that sits at the intersection of strategy, innovation and design. Spanning the mobile, healthcare, consumer and enterprise markets, Gary drives an innovative team of engineers and creative designers that interpret technology trends through a design lens and attempt to create next-generation user experiences.

Prior to joining Nuance, Gary was the vice president of speech strategy for Yahoo!, where he led the Company’s efforts in creating next-generation speech applications including speech-enabled, unrestricted web search. Before Yahoo!, He was the Chief Creative Officer for Tellme Networks, a division of Microsoft where he oversaw many applications including Tellme Search. Prior to Tellme Gary was the founder and president of Clayton Multimedia. Gary holds five US patents and applications, is a Grammy Award nominee, and his innovations have been acclaimed by a number of associations and journals, including the Wall Street Journal Innovation Awards.

With all of this in mind, we thought it might fun to ask Gary a couple of questions about his journey to SXSW:

Q: Gary, as the creative mastermind behind many-a-cutting-edge project in your career, what makes you get up in the morning?

A: Great question! So many things. The desire to unearth solutions to the world’s biggest problems? The belief that the possibilities for connected living are endless? The mantra that life is always worth enhancing and voice might just be the way to do it? Also, coffee. In all seriousness, I value the ability to question, improve—and ultimately humanize the way we as humans interact with our devices—across an infinite number of platforms.

Q: Have you been to SXSW before? If yes, tell us about it. If no, what have you heard?!

A: Believe it or not, I have not been to SXSW before…and I have heard some THINGS. Good things, of course. I am excited to be a part of the buzz and hope that I can experience the things that everyone has been talking about—adding a little nuance, if you know I mean.

Q: You mention humanizing machines: how do you see this type of connection evolving in the future—both for Nuance and/or voice and gesture in general?

A: Voice has quickly permeated the mobile interface, enabling people to speak and elicit a response from their phone, tablets and PCs, as well as cars and TVs as they become even more connected to people and content. And as these interfaces evolve, so does voice technology – integrating natural language understanding and elements of artificial intelligence to further humanize the way we engage the devices, applications, services and systems around us.

As part of these deep integrations across devices and apps – there is an element of design. What can we enable a consumer to experience – and how do they want to experience our technology?

Experiencing an evolution of voice, touch, gesture, personal assistants and intelligent systems that are influencing the way devices are designed and conceptualized, as well as how people engage them and consumer content.

Cloud is having a profound effect on our four screens – the PC, the mobile device, the TV and now the car – we are truly scratching the surface of what’s possible in a world where our relationships with technology will be simplified, more human – redefined.

Q: What is the quirkiest thing about you?

A: A: I had to search on Google for suggestions on how to answer this question.

Q: And, finally: For those aspiring creative types, what would be the best piece of advice you could give them?

A: Don’t pay too much attention to what others tell you…especially, negative commentary. Aim for where there are fewest footprints and mine for gold.

Remember, you can catch Gary live at his panel Monday, March 11th at 12:30pm in Austin!

Follow @NuanceInc to join us on our journey through SXSW, and follow @SXSW on Twitter to stay up-to-date on all the exciting things happening this year in Austin.

About Molly Merluzzi

Molly Merluzzi currently holds the position of Manager of Corporate Communications for the Mobile + Consumer division at Nuance Communications, a global software company predominantly known for its work in the voice recognition space across tablets, smartphones, television, cars, robotics and even wearable technology.
Before joining the Nuance team, Molly managed the public relations’ division at Keurig®, a national coffee maker brand and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, spearheading national campaigns, product launches and partner announcements – transforming the company and brand into a cohesive media powerhouse.
Molly continues to leverage her skills as a media relations and communications' professional with comprehensive experience managing and executing dynamic, strategic communications' platforms across multiple corporate, product and brand-based channels including crisis communications, product launches, marketing campaigns, on-air radio and broadcast interviews, multi-channel product distribution and social media channels at Nuance and other organizations.
Molly received her BS degree from Wheaton College in Norton, MA, graduating magna cum laude as a double major in Hispanic Studies and English with a concentration in Modern Contemporary Media and Culture. Molly speaks fluent Spanish and is a yoga fanatic.